Table 3.
Basic Background of Informal Caregivers and Differences Among Participants Providing Care to Others in Different Locations
| All caregivers (N = 14,118) ns/% or mean (SD) |
Same household (a) (n = 3,263) ns/% or mean (SD) |
Another household (b) (n = 9,287) ns/% or mean (SD) |
Health care institution (c) (n = 1,568) ns/% or mean (SD) |
χ 2 (df)/F (df) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sex | 63.35 (2)*** | ||||
| Female | 7,915/56.06 | 1,635/50.11 | 5,400/58.15 | 880/56.12 | |
| Male | 6,203/43.94 | 1,628/49.89 | 3,887/41.85 | 688/43.88 | |
| Age | 172.21 (4)*** | ||||
| 50–64 years old | 5,630/39.88 | 1,101/33.74 | 3,952/42.55 | 577/36.80 | |
| 65–74 years old | 5,101/36.13 | 1,125/34.48 | 3,331/35.87 | 645/41.14 | |
| 75 years and older | 3,387/23.99 | 1,037/31.78 | 2,004/21.58 | 346/22.07 | |
| Marital status | 539.37 (2)*** | ||||
| Unmarried | 3,880/27.50 | 383/11.74 | 3,046/32.82 | 451/28.80 | |
| Married/common-law | 10,229/72.50 | 2,879/88.26 | 6,239/67.18 | 1,115/71.20 | |
| Education | 16.10 (4)** | ||||
| No postsecondary education | 2,849/20.20 | 715/21.93 | 1,856/20.00 | 278/17.74 | |
| Some postsecondary education | 4,474/31.72 | 978/30.00 | 2,999/32.32 | 497/31.72 | |
| University degrees | 6,783/48.09 | 1,567/48.07 | 4,424/47.68 | 792/50.54 | |
| Work status | 20.77 (2)*** | ||||
| Employed | 4,077/29.57 | 868/27.25 | 2,799/30.84 | 410/26.83 | |
| Unemployed/retired | 9,711/70.43 | 2,317/72.75 | 6,276/69.16 | 1,118/73.17 | |
| Income | 21.38 (6)** | ||||
| Less than $20,000 | 1,672/12.37 | 437/14.08 | 1,053/11.83 | 182/12.06 | |
| $20,000–$49,999 | 4,843/35.83 | 1,158/37.32 | 3,147/35.34 | 538/35.65 | |
| $50,000–$99,999 | 4,954/36.65 | 1,064/34.29 | 3,344/37.56 | 546/36.18 | |
| $100,000 and more | 2,047/15.15 | 444/14.31 | 1,360/15.27 | 243/16.10 | |
| Living area | 12.67 (2)** | ||||
| Rural and DA | 2,490/17.72 | 613/18.91 | 1,647/17.81 | 230/14.74 | |
| Urban area | 11,559/82.28 | 2,629/81.09 | 7,600/82.19 | 1,330/85.26 | |
| Country of birth | 40.91 (2)*** | ||||
| Canada | 12,026/85.22 | 2,671/81.88 | 7,979/85.96 | 1,376/87.76 | |
| Foreign born | 2,086/14.78 | 591/18.12 | 1,303/14.04 | 192/12.24 | |
| Number of care receivers | 283.43 (2)*** | ||||
| 1 care receiver | 7,849/55.65 | 2,221/68.13 | 4,742/51.12 | 886/56.51 | |
| 2 care receivers or more | 6,256/44.35 | 1,039/31.87 | 4,535/48.88 | 682/43.49 | |
| Caregiving hour/week for main receiver | 1,015.91 (2)*** | ||||
| Fewer than 5 hr | 10,648/77.97 | 1,807/58.31 | 7,716/85.51 | 1,125/73.29 | |
| 5 hr or more | 3,009/22.03 | 1,292/41.69 | 1,307/14.49 | 410/26.71 | |
| Depressive symptoms (FUP1) | 4.94 (4.45) | 5.42 (4.71) | 4.78 (4.32) | 4.91 (4.55) | 24.24 (2)***; a > b, c |
| COVID-19 survey Baseline | |||||
| Depressive symptoms (CES-D 10) | 6.16 (5.22) | 6.44 (5.38) | 6.10 (5.18) | 5.95 (5.11) | 6.23 (2)**; a > b, c |
| Anxiety (GAD-7) | 2.81 (3.67) | 2.89 (3.70) | 2.80 (3.68) | 2.69 (3.58) | 1.44 (2) |
| Increase caregiving hours | 76.31 (2)*** | ||||
| No | 10,782/89.34 | 2,339/85.21 | 7,176/90.09 | 1,267/93.30 | |
| Yes | 1,286/10.66 | 406/14.79 | 789/9.91 | 91/6.70 | |
| Unable to provide care | 108.30 (2)*** | ||||
| No | 9,858/81.69 | 2,413/87.91 | 6,414/80.53 | 1,031/75.92 | |
| Yes | 2,210/18.31 | 332/12.09 | 1,551/19.47 | 327/24.08 | |
| COVID-19 survey Exit | |||||
| Depressive symptoms (CES-D 10) | 6.29 (5.28) | 6.69 (5.49) | 6.15 (5.20) | 6.23 (5.27) | 10.39 (2)***; a > b, c |
| Anxiety (GAD-7) | 2.68 (3.49) | 2.91 (3.70) | 2.60 (3.42) | 2.64 (3.47) | 7.48 (2)**; a > b |
| Increase caregiving hours | 47.70 (2)*** | ||||
| No | 10,184/86.25 | 2,241/82.57 | 6,762/86.95 | 1,181/89.74 | |
| Yes | 1,623/13.75 | 473/17.43 | 1,015/13.05 | 135/10.26 | |
| Unable to provide care | 30.73 (2)*** | ||||
| No | 10,400/88.08 | 2,461/90.68 | 6,821/87.71 | 1,118/84.95 | |
| Yes | 1,407/11.92 | 253/9.32 | 956/12.29 | 198/15.05 |
Notes: CES-D 10 = Center for Epidemiological Studies—Depression scale; COVID-19 = coronavirus disease 2019; DA = dissemination area; FUP1 = Follow-up 1; GAD-7 = Generalized Anxiety Disorder scale; SD = standard deviation.
*p < .05. **p < .01. ***p < .001.